Gov. Gary Johnson is the anti-establishment Republican presidential-nomination candidate. He is committed to cutting spending, balancing the budget, rooting out special interests, and protecting liberty for all Americans.

A CNN poll two weeks ago showed him tied with Herman Cain and ahead of Sen. Rick Santorum and Gov. Jon Huntsman.

It’s disappointing, then, that Johnson’s established credibility as a presidential-nomination candidate has not earned him the opportunity to present his message in the nationally televised debates.

Our campaign has been respectful when questioning the media’s decisions to exclude Johnson, but credible observers have speculated that there may in fact be a “Gary Johnson Rule” to ensure that he doesn’t appear on stage.

While the national media may have devised polling “criteria” to determine who is invited and who is not, those criteria become a lot less objective if the polls they’re based on don’t include all the candidates.

How can you qualify for the debates when you’re not included in the polls?

The irony, of course, is that many of the same media outlets who decide the debate participants are also the same people who devise the national polls. While they may say that their debates are open to anyone, their carefully restricted polls effectively play the role of gatekeeper.

When Johnson was included by CNN in its last nationwide survey, he placed ahead of Jon Huntsman and Santorum and tied with Cain — all three of whom have been invited to every debate, including Monday night’s.

But Tuesday morning, despite his previous inclusion — and despite polling ahead or even with three other candidates — CNN released its latest poll without Johnson as an option.

We find this truly baffling, and we have been left scratching our heads. And so we ask: Why?

What is it that CNN is afraid of? Is a candidate with fresh ideas — and a track record as a successful two-term governor — too much for the establishment to deal with?

Or is it that CNN can’t understand how Johnson can poll competitively with other candidates who’ve spent millions — possibly 10 or 20 times the amount Johnson has spent?

Why does it seem so infeasible that an authentic message from a former governor with a true record of fiscal conservatism would resonate with real voters?

We don’t know what’s going on, but something is.

If you are as bewildered and concerned as we are, ask CNN what the deal is. Here are its email addresses and phone numbers: